Elevator.



No. 655,0l2. Patented luly 3|, I900.

. a. H. REYNOLDS.

E L E V A T 0 R.

(Application filed Mar. 27, 1895.)

4 Sheets-Sheet I.

(No Model.)

ill/ll q Tu: seams mrrzns ca. PHOTO-LING. WASHKNQTON. a. c.

No. 655,0l2. I Pate t d a. H. REYNOLDS. 8 M 3!, mm

ELEVATOR.

(Application filed Mar. 27, I895.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 2;

THE "cams PETERS o0 pum'ou-mon WASHINGTON. u. c.

No. 655,0!2. Patented lu1y 3|, I900.

G. H. REYNOLDS.

ELEVATOR.

(Application filed Mar. 27- 1895.Y (N0 od m 4 Sheets-Sheet .3

No. 655.0!2. Patented July 3|, I900.

a. H. REYNOLDS. 7

ELEVATOR Apinlication filed Mar. 27, 1895.)

4 Sheets-Sheet 4,

(No Model.)

- tofore it is common to provide a variable coun- E NiTsn STATES P TENTCri ics.

scones 1'1. TREYNOLDS, or CHICAGO, ILLnvOIs, ASSIGNOR ro Tat CRANEELEVATOR coMPANY, or SAME PLACE.

ELEVATO R.

SFECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 655,012 dated. July 31,1900.

Application filed March 27,1895. Serial No. 543,881. No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGEII. REYNOLDS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State ofIllinois, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Elevators, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being hadto the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification.

This invention relates more particularly to hydrogravity-elevators inwhich the car is raised by the gravity of a falling ram and lowered byhydraulic pressure directed against, so as to lift, the ram. Elevatorsof this class are necessarily of the vertical type, and in vertical andhorizontal types of elevators hereterbalance in the shape of a chainattached to the car at one end and resting at its other end in theelevator-shaft to compensate for the running of the lifting-cables toone side or the other of the main sheaves.

This invention has for one of its objects to dispense with the variableweight in the shape of a chainand compensate for the running of thelifting-cables .to one side or the other of the main sheaves by ahydrostatic column.

Another object is to utilize the hydraulic column, which lifts the ram,asa part of the hydrostatic column, whereby a constant hydraulicpressure or head is maintained in operating the elevator under allpractical conditions. H

A further object is to automatically arrest the descent of the ram orplunger as it approaches the limit of its stroke, While at the same timeproviding for the prompt action of the apparatus when the ram or plungeris started on its ascent.

A still further object is to avoid the j umping or vertical vibration ofthe ram or plunger when the liftingpressure is suddenly cut off, therebyavoiding the exceedingly-disagreeable and dangerous jumping of theelevator-car resulting therefrom.

These and such other objects as will hereinafter appear areattaine'd bythe devices illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in

which-= Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of an elevator apparatusembodying my invention;

Fig. 2, a detail vertical section through a por' tion of the ram and itscylinder; Fig. 3, a horizontal section on the line '3 8 of Fig. 2. 4E-is a front elevation of the controlling-valves and their connections;Fig. 5, a side eleva tion of the controlling valves and their con-'nections; Fig.6, a plan view of the same. Fig. 7 is a detail view of thedevices for ap plying hydraulic pressure to the ram, and Fig. 8 a detailsection of the check-valve between the ram and cylinder and thestandpipe. Fig. 9 is a detail section. Similar letters of referenceindicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawlngs.

Referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, A indicates theelevator-car, B the main sheaves, O the lifting-cables, and D themultiplying-sheave, all of which may be of the usual or any desiredconstruction. The multiplying-sheave is carried upon a cross-head E,mounted upon the upper end of a ram or plunger F and working in asuitable guide-frame G, secured at one side of the elevator-shaft. Inpractice the ram and the guide-frame would be each equal in length toabout half the height of the building in which the elevator apparatus isto be used, the guide-frame being a fixture extending to the upper halfof the building, while below it, to the bottom .of the shaft, extends acylin der H, in which the ram or plunger works. The ram should be of aweight sufiicient to lift the car and its accessory parts with itsmaximum load, and the ram is lifted by hydraulic pressure directedagainst the lower end thereof, so as to lower the car, the discharge ofthe water from the cylinder after the ram is lifted serving to controlthe fall of the ram, and consequently the lifting of the car.

It is well understood in this art that as the car ascends and descendsthe weight of the lifting-cables O isconstantly shifting from one sideto the other of the main. sheave B, and heretofore this shifting of theweight of the cables has been compensated for by the provision of avariableweight in the shape of a chain hanging fromthe car, which ispicked up from the bottoin 'of the shaft or I from the support at theside of the shaft as the car ascends and accumulates on=thebot= Fig.

- cables by providing a hydrostatic column through theconnection 0; butafter the ram which, in conjunction-with the'cables them selves, willserve to perfectly compensate for the shifting of the weight of thecables to one side or the other of the main sheave, as will. now bedescribed. The control-valves for; admitting the supply of water to thecylinder and discharging the same therefrom may be of any desiredconstruction, and are now so well understood in this art that it is notdeemed necessary .to herein illustrate or de-' scribe them in detail.Suffice it to say that I (see Figs. 4 and 5') is the main supply-pipe; Jthe inlet-valve; K, the change-valve; L,- the outlet-valve, and M thedischarge-pipe from -1;he outlet-valve, which I utilize as a referenceto Figs. 5 and 7. The supply of water to the ram-cylinder H enters atthe supply-valve J and passing the. change-valve K enters the branchpipes N and O, which connectwith the cylinderat difierent points alongits height, the pipe 0 connecting withthe cylinder near the vlower endthereof and the pipe N at a point somewhat above the lower end of thecylinder. As will be explained further on, the lower end of the plunger,when the latter is in its-lowermost position, extends below and cuts offthe connection N, so that the first supply of water to the cylinder ishas raised a short'distance-the supply is from both connections, l i.

- In the pipe 0 is located a check-valve'R, also of ordinaryconstruction, which opens to admit'the flow of the water. into thecylinder from the change-valve, but closes as against a return of thewater. Hence when the change-valve K is operated to connect thedischarge-pipe M with the cylinder the discharge of the water from thecylinder is mainly through the pipe N and partly through the; by-pass P,which is smaller than the pipe N and is throttled. by the cock valve Q,which is adjustable to vary the amount of wa-.

I --ter that may be discharged through this pipe,

according to the requirements of each case. a The discharge-pipe M iscarried up to aas to provide a stand-pipe in which there is alwayscontained a hydrostatic column substantially equal to the heightot thecylinder. Now assuming the water is beingforced into the cylinder tolift' the ram,- during this op eration the'stand-pipe will be cutoff bythe change-valve, and as the ram rises out of the cylinder the car istraveling down, and consequentlythe weight of the lifting-cables isshifting to the car side of the main sheave, Hence as the ram risesout-of the water in the cylinder,- in which .it is completely imstroke.'drostatic column in the stand-pipe is con- ,times kept full of water.

mersed at each downstroke thereof, the ram theoretically acquires weightrecovered. from the ram is counterbalanced and offset bythe running ofthe liftingecables to thecar side of the main sheaver Therefore the samepower that'is required to start the ram will be sufficient to inoveit-to the full limit of its On the desce'ntof' the ram the hynectedwiththe hydrostatic column in the cylinder by the change-valve, and as thetwo "columns are of substantially-equal height tlier'ewill be an exactbalance between the two columns, and thus the cylinder is at all Thiswould be equally true were-the water discharged from k the cylinder intosome other source of constant pressure, such as a pressure-tank,

where-in sufficient pressure would be nor mally maintained to supportthe hydrostatic stand-pipe, as will be better understood by column inthe cylinder. As the ram descends 1 it theoretically loses inweightbyimmersion, due to the buoyancy of the water in the cylinder; butthis loss, of weight is counterbalanced-by the weight of thelifting-cables r'un-' ning to the ram side of the main sheave It willthus be seen that the weightof' the ram and its accessory parts remainpracticallythe same throughout its-downward as well as up ward travel.However, to attain this desir able result it is necessary that thedisplacement of'the ram, regardless of its shape: or weight, should beso proportioned to the weightpf the lifting-cablesfthat theweight of thewater displaced by each .foot thereof shall substantially equal orcounterbalance the weight of so much of the cables as run from one side.to the other of the main sheave during each foot of travel' of the ram.In

other words, the displacement of the ramshould'be so proportioned to theweight of the lifting-cables that thechan'g'ing displace ment ot the ramwill substantially counterbalance the changing weight of the liftingcables. It is also necessary that a hydrostatic column, through whichthe ram falls, must be maintained at all times by keeping thecylinderfull of water under allcircu m-- st-ances.

My stand-pipe, a pressure-tank,- or other means may be employed to thisend, the: stand-pipe or pressure-tank possessing especial advantagesover any other means height about equal to that of thecylinder, so

known 'to me byproviding a hydrostatic col umn or constant source ofpressure through inbefore mentioned as incident to such constructions.

The importance of the stand-pipe or'other means, for maintaining aconstant pressure or head upon the plunger or ram in all of itspositions will be appreciated when it is borne in mind that in practicea car maybe much more heavily loaded after leaving the 1 lower floors ofa building than at the start and may sometimes be overloaded. This istook place at the bottom of the building direct from the outlet-valve apart or even the whole of the water in the cylinder might belet out byan. operator in his efforts to load were lessened to any considerableextent beyond a balance for the ram the car would be instantly andrapidly run up to the, top of the shaft, the sole reliance for safety.under such conditions being the safety devices, which might or might notwork under such conditions. On the other hand, if the operator. afterdischarging a part or the whole of the contents of the cylinder were toreverse,so as to send the car down, the water, under high pressure,would rush into the empty cylinder and strikethe end of the ram withsuch force and suddenness as to send the car to the bottom of the shaftbefore any control could be gained over the apever the discharge oroutlet valve was open;

but no discharge of the water from the cylinder would takeplace unlessthe ram descended and displaced the water. The standpipe also servesanother useful purposein that it is a permanentsource of supply forwater to the cylinder, which may be utilized to avoid or prevent thejumping of the ram and car due ,to sudden stoppage, cutting off thelifting-pressure from the ram.-

It is obvious that if the ram is being lifted very rapidly and thepressure is suddenly cut otf the momentum will carry the ram up a slightdistance beyond the head of the column in the cylinder, and then the ramwill immediately fall back to the head of the column, giving a violentjerk upward to the car, causing tremendous strain to be suddenly thrownupon the lifting cables and upon theirsupporting and connecting parts,which strain is several times repeated in sudden jerks until the car andram come to a rest in their proper relative positions. This I know to betrue from practical experience. To avoid this jumping, I provide aconnectingpassage S between the stand-pipe andthe cylinder, preferablyat a point just above the connection of the upper supply-pipe N to thecylinder, and in this passage locate a check-valve T, which opens topermit the flow of water from the stand-pipe into the cylinder, butcloses against the return of the water. Hence when the pressure issuddenly cut off during the upward travel of the ram and the lattercontinues its upward move-' ment there is a tendency to a vacuum belowUnder such conditions if the.

the ram, and this vacuum is immediately and automatically filled by thewater, which will pass into the cylinder from the stand-pipe through thepassage S, and thereby sustain the ram in any position to which it maymove. Of course the water which thus enters the cylinder is only so muchas thesuction created by the ram will draw in, and as it cannot againescape from the cylinder it serves to keep the same full and level withthe bottom of the ram at all times, so that the ram cannot fall backagain after jumping, but will be sustained in the position to which itmoves.

To prevent a siphoning action on the part of the discharge-leg a of thedischarge-pipe N, which might empty the latter pipe once it was startedin operation, I provide areliefvalve 1), which is simply aninwardly-opening check-valve that permits air to enter the pipe wheneverthe supply ,to the discharge-leg a ceases. This relief-valve would alsoserve to admit air to'the discharge-pipe, so as to permit the freepassage of the water through the V passage S in the event of an unusualdemand thereon tending to create a vacuum in the upper part of the pipeN.

The cylinder H, in which the ram works, is of necessity of considerablelength, some. times from one hundred to one hundred and thirty feet,more or less, and in practice it is necessary to have the pipe sectionalin character. It is difficult in a pipe of this length to get a smoothand straight bore for the ram or plunger, which is in the nature of apiston,

and by reason of the great length of the rain it would bind easily in acylinder providing a continuous bore therefor. I have therefore providedmy sectional cylinder with a series of bearings or bulkheads at or nearthe meeting ends of the sections through which the plunger works withouthaving any bearing upon the sections at intermediate points. By such aconstruction, in which a series of bulkheads is employed, it iscomparatively easy to center all of the sections of the cylinder andfurnish a free bearing for the ram without objectionable looseness offit and also without danger of binding.

In carrying out my invention, as illustrated in the drawings, I proposeto have only a reasonably-close fit 0f the ram in working N through thelowermost bearing or bulkhead in the cylinderfor reasons elsewhereexplained, the rest of the hearings or bulkheads in the cylinder beingsufficiently larger than the ram to permit the free flow of waterbetween them and the ram and yet serving the purpose of guides for theram in its work in the cylinder.

As before explained, the supply and discharge of water from the cylindertakes place through the two pipes N and O, and in practice the upperconnection N is made with the cylinder just above the lowermostbulkhead.

The lower end of the ram is either formed j tapering for a distance lessthan that between the lowermost bulkhead and the lower'end of' thecylinder or is provided with tapering grooves q in the sidesthereof, sothat as the ram' descends the escape of water through the connection Nis gradually cut ofi until finally its sole escape is throughthe.connection by way of the by-pass P., The checkvalve R in the pipeconnection 0 prevents.

the escape of the water through the pipe 0 and compels it to passthrough the pipe P,

a and the cock-valve Q of the said pipe P enables the throttling of thispipe, so astoadj ust to a nicety the discharge of the water from thelower end of the cylinder, so as to arrest the descent of the ramgradually and without shock. Obviously the cock-valve Qmay be dispensedwith and the pipe P made of said ram freely works, means for introducinga hydraulic lifting-column in said cylinder at the lower end thereof,for raising the ram, and means for connecting the hydrauliclifting-column with a hydrostatic column, substantially as described.

2. In an elevator, the combination of a car, a ram operatively connectedwith said car, a

cylinder in which saidram freely works, sup

ply and discharge ports at the lower end of said cylinder, a valvemechanism for controlling hydraulic pressure in said cylinder and anindependent source of constant hydraulic pressure adapted to beconnected-with the discharge-port of the cylinder, substantially asdescribed.

3. In an elevator, the combination of a car, a ram operatively connectedtherewith, a cyl- ,inder in which said ram freely works, supply anddischarge ports at the lower end of said cylinder, a valve mechanism forcontrolling hydraulic pressure in said cylinder and a stand-pipe adaptedto be connected by said valve mechanism with the discharge-port of saidcylinder, substantially as described.

4. In an elevator, the combination with a car, a ramoperativelyconnected' therewith,

and a cylinder in which said ram works, of a valve mechanism foradmitting and relieving hydraulic pressure in the cylinder, connecti'onsfrom said valve mechanism to two difierent points along the cylinder, acheckvalvein the lowermost connection, and a con-,

tracted by-pass around said check-valve, substantially as described.

" 5. In an elevator, the combination with a car, a ram operativelyconnected therewith, and a cylinder in which said ram works, of a valvemechanism for. admitting and relieving hydraulic pressure in thecylinder, connections from saidvalve mechanism to two diiferent pointsalong the cylinder, achcckvalve in the lowermost connection,-a by-passaround said check-valve, and a cock-valve in said by-pass, substantiallyas described.

6. In an elevator, the combination with a car, a ram operativelyconnected therewith, and a cylinder in which the ram freely works, of avalve mechanism for admitting and relieving hydraulic pressure in saidcylinder, a source of constant pressure into which said cylinderdischarges, a passage connecting said source of constant pressure withthe cylinder near the lower end thereof, and a check-valve located insaid passage, substantially as described. Y

7. In an elevator, the combination with a car, a ram operativelyconnected therewith,

and a cylinder in which said rain freely works,

of a valve mechanism for admitting and relievinghydraulic pressure insaid cylinder, a stand-pipe connecting with said valve mechanism andthrough which the cylinder discharges, a passage connecting saidstand-pipe withthe cylinder, and acheck-valve in said passage,substantially as described.

8. In an elevator, the combination of a car,

a ram, cable connections therebetween, a

closed cylinder in which said ram works, a series of guide-bearings forsaid ram at intervals in the cylinder through which said ram freelyworks, a succession of supply and discharge openings in the cylinderupon opposite sides of the guide-bearings and means for raising said ramby hydraulic pressure to lower the car and for controlling the fall ofthe ram by hydraulic pressure to raise the car, substantially asdescribed.

9. In an elevator, the combination with a car, a ram operativelyconnected therewith and having a reduced end, and a. cylinder in whichsaid ram works, composedof a series of. sections having bulkheads at theends thereof, of supply and discharge connections for the cylinder'aboveand below the lowerm'ost' bulkhead, cooperating with the reducedend of the ram, substantially as described.

GEO. H. REYNOLDS.

Witnessdsz M. E. SHIELDS, CHAS. B. BOWEN.

